lapsus linguae

I got a decent sleep this morning, from about 6am onwards after evicting the dog who wanted to play.  Thankfully I was able to get 4 hours uninterrupted.  Jerry has been on my lap or on my feet since then.  Don is doing better; he cooked yesterday, so that saves me the effort.  At the moment, I’ve made our teas, and the little monster is curled up on Don’s lap while I’m writing this.  That does help a little, as I don’t have to juggle a keyboard and a puppy.

 Some years ago I did a 23-and-me DNA analysis.  I blame one of my friends for that; he did the analysis and found some oddities in his family tree.  I had balked a bit because I’m (a) from the Caribbean; (b) of very mixed ancestry — even without the DNA research and (c) not white, therefore not likely to be well-represented.  (Because let’s face it, the databases will work best for white, Western European or North American and the more melanin, the fewer hits.)  But I tried anyway — in all, I did 3 genetic analyses.  They don’t match.  My profile and my brother’s don’t match.  It was astounding to get those results.  I can rationalize the differences as being part of the genetic lottery when my parents’ material blended, but I’d probably have thought that we’d be closer than we are. The funny part is that under physical characteristics, my genetic report indicates that I have detached earlobes (they’re attached.)  that I have brown hair (it’s black) that my hair is wavy (I’ve got curls.) and that I have dimples (nope.). The medical reports show that I do not have the genetic variants for a number of diseases, thankfully, and I’m hoping that they’re right!  Meanwhile, though, I have a running joke with an old friend that we’re perhaps related because we have a surprising number of traits in common, although we come from very different backgrounds.  We did learn that our ancestors are from the same area of China, although hers are slightly more recent than mine.  We’ve decided that we’re cousins.  That works for me. 😂. I have another friend — almost a sister — and we have zero genetic links to each other, but we conveniently ignore that and have happily adopted each other’s families.

The other apps have similar profiles, but they’re not identical.  That I can rationalize as being due to differing approaches to analysis, so there may be some variation by a few percentage points.  Of course, it’s also possible that they’re all just hokey and the information is about as useful as a horoscope for planning your activities?  I doubt it, but a heavy level of skepticism is probably a good thing.I’m going to assume that there’s a solid explanation for the variations and they’re essentially meaningless for understanding my profile — which is largely useless for determining how I make friends or develop relationships, and only minimal effect on my medical history.

OK, I’m tired, and off to sleep.  I hope that the tiny monster will let me get some sleep and won’t decide to tap dance on my belly in the middle of the night!  Good night!